2017-18 Blaze King Performance Thread PART 3 (Everything BK)

[jetsam]

There should be one, on the clothes dryers. They suck sooo much air from the house.

It'd be good in on dry days in the summer. It'd be miserable on damp days in the winter.

 

[Diabel]

Just curious if any of you wth these cold draft problems ever notice this cold air when other appliances are running? Like the clothes dryer, range hood, bathroom exhaust. All of which would be removing more cfm than your BK. Not saying an OAK is a bad idea, but very few people ever consider how much air is being sucked out by other appliances. I suppose offsetting with an air supply to the stove is about the best one can do in most cases.

I just don't notice it as much.

Bathroom fans, very noticeable...just put your hand down by the bottom of the door while fan running. So much air being sucked in and out through the fan.

 

[showrguy]

Just curious if any of you wth these cold draft problems ever notice this cold air when other appliances are running? Like the clothes dryer, range hood, bathroom exhaust. All of which would be removing more cfm than your BK. Not saying an OAK is a bad idea, but very few people ever consider how much air is being sucked out by other appliances. I suppose offsetting with an air supply to the stove is about the best one can do in most cases.

No, I have'nt, but then again those things you mentioned are'nt drawing air/vacuum 24/7..

Honestly, I did'nt really notice the cold draws the 1st. Two years of having this stove installed, but the last two winters were pretty mild..
This year it's been damn cold, for long periods of time !!

 

[Diabel]

It'd be good in on dry days in the summer. It'd be miserable on damp days in the winter.

Very good point.

 

[webby3650]

No, I have'nt, but then again those things you mentioned are'nt drawing air/vacuum 24/7..

Honestly, I did'nt really notice the cold draws the 1st. Two years of having this stove installed, but the last two winters were pretty mild..
This year it's been damn cold, for long periods of time !!

You must not have kids at home then!

 

[Woody Stover]

No OAK here; We hang our clothes outside to dry.

 

[moresnow]

Thank goodness some progress is being made on the 30 box.

Definitely not a 30 box only issue. Lets get a link to the new gasket listed here. Cant wait to try one.

 

[kf6hap]

Definitely not a 30 box only issue. Lets get a link to the new gasket listed here. Cant wait to try one.

Try calling / E-mailing BK:

(broken link removed to http://www.blazeking.com/EN/contact.html)

 

[kennyp2339]

@Ashful ... any updates on the fly ash situation? Its warmed up some, have you noticed a weaker draft, or maybe burning with t-stat down some slow things down? Just curious.

 

[AlbergSteve]

Great news. My dealer is coming Friday to do mine.

This is probably high density with a separate inner core and outer braid - make sure he offsets the the joint of the inner core from the outer braid and doesn't just butt the two together...


AND make that joint as smooth as possible...

 

[Ashful]

@Ashful ... any updates on the fly ash situation? Its warmed up some, have you noticed a weaker draft, or maybe burning with t-stat down some slow things down? Just curious.

All seems to be behaving well, these last two or three weeks with the key damper installed. I’ve switched to burning less dry wood, so my startups are longer, but she seems to be doing well. I’m anxious to pull the cat again at some point, to see if I’m getting any new buildup on the back of it, but that will have to wait!

 

[kennyp2339]

65 deg Tuesday, 75deg yesterday, today winter weather advisory for sleet and freezing rain. I pre-staged the princess yesterday evening with newspaper and kindling, woke up this morning to 38deg, temps dropping throughout the day so I lit her up at 5am and was able to close the by-pass 15min later, ran her hot, then topped her off and turned the t-stat down some after a good char, should be good to go until bedtime tonight.

 

[ratsrepus]

not quite that warm her in Michigan. but we did get up to 63 on Tuesday. If I would have run the Jotul, I would have had all the windows and door walls opened. The Princess cruised along on low for better than 30 hrs with a full load of ash

 

[jetsam]

I let the fire go out for the first time since last fall yesterday. Swept the chimney after work and started her up again- using a match and twigs! I felt like my stove was broken when I put wood in and it didn't immediately burst into flames like usual.

 

[Ctd92]

New install two months ago, replaced an Enviro Kodiak 1700. Haven't really had a chance to test the BK out in cold temp until this last week. 10, 10, and 12 df the last three mornings with highs around 30 here in central WA. The insert is heating the house (1700 sq ft) very well with floor fans moving the air.

I want to run the stove fan as low as possible to get the longest, hottest burns. Is the fan really moving any air at the lowest settings? Or do you think the fan needs to be at least 1/4 speed to not lose the heat up the chimney?

 

[lsucet]

I have no experience with the insert but I will say, fans can be the strongest point of an insert regardless the fans settings as long they're on. Possibly your other fans at floor level are doing a wonderful job.

 

[Woody Stover]

Does it feel like there's much air/heat blowing out on low? "Longest" and "hottest" burns are opposite; The hotter you burn the stove (the more open the air is,) the shorter the burn is going to be. Now, I suppose the higher you have the blower, the more heat you are going to pull off the stove, and less will be going out the stack. I wouldn't be too concerned about that, as long as my house was warm..that's the bottom line.

 

[ratsrepus]

Been meaning to ask this question, but what are the side panels on my princess for? I would guess they are for close clearances to combustibles, but do they have anything to do with the stoves performance? thanks

 

[Ctd92]

Does it feel like there's much air/heat blowing out on low? "Longest" and "hottest" burns are opposite; The hotter you burn the stove (the more open the air is,) the shorter the burn is going to be. Now, I suppose the higher you have the blower, the more heat you are going to pull off the stove, and less will be going out the stack. I wouldn't be too concerned about that, as long as my house was warm..that's the bottom line.

It does feel like heat is coming off the stove with the fan on low or even off. Seems like the fan stalls at the very low settings. Wondering if others thought the same. I guess I should have said that I want the highest cat temp over the longest period of time, (low t stat setting and low fan speed).

Thanks for the help. Not too concerned, the house is warm. Just looking to do it better.

 

[jetsam]

New install two months ago, replaced an Enviro Kodiak 1700. Haven't really had a chance to test the BK out in cold temp until this last week. 10, 10, and 12 df the last three mornings with highs around 30 here in central WA. The insert is heating the house (1700 sq ft) very well with floor fans moving the air.

I want to run the stove fan as low as possible to get the longest, hottest burns. Is the fan really moving any air at the lowest settings? Or do you think the fan needs to be at least 1/4 speed to not lose the heat up the chimney?

I run my PI with no fans for most of the year. Going from low fan to no fan doubles the burn time at lower thermostat settings.

My cutoff point is about 32°F. Above that, the fan is never needed. Below that, I burn a 12 hour medium low load without the fan while I'm at work, then crank it up if needed when I get home. In this extremely cold winter we just had, I used the fan a lot and my glass stayed very clean.

If you are trying to burn very low with the fan on, you are going to suffer short burn times and wasted wood; the cat will cool off to the point that it's not burning, and all those lovely organic volatiles that should.be making heat will be wafting up your chimney instead (and perchance sticking to it).

Your mileage will definitely vary; we don't have the same flue, fuel, or insulation envelope. Everyone has to learn their own stove(s) in their own house and figure out where on the dial "lowest burn" is.

 

[SuperJ]

If you need the additional heat I think it is more efficient to run the fan, than it is to crank up the stat.

Even if the fan is on the lowest setting, I've noticed the back of my stove and the walls behind the stove are much much cooler with the fan running, but the room is warmer. Heating the outside wall behind my stove is a waste (I'd love to take a FLIR image of the outside wall from outside with the fans off and on). It changes the convective/radiant heating ratio which is helpful in my house to even things out.
I can tell it changes the heat output quite a bit since the thermostat click point on low moves down quite a bit with the fan on (BK geek speak for the fan causes the stat to open up significantly to maintain the same flue gas temps).

Agree with Jetsam though, that if your pulling so much heat off as to stall the cat it's a false economy since the cat is what produces most of the heat on a low burn. It's harder to know when the cat is nearing stalling with the fans on though since the temperature probe isn't really accurate with the air moving across it (at least in my ashford since the probe bridges the gap between the top casting and the firebox.

I wonder if running on low with the fan on too might be a recipe for needing to clean you chimney more often since the flue temps are going to be quite a bit cooler.

BTW, if you look at the EPA tests for the BK stoves (at least the Ashford), they were done with the fans on (but matched too the thermostat setting), this suggests to me the fans probably make the stove cleaner and more efficient.

When I got my fan kit recently, the fan blades would strike the rheostat housing and stall or make a horrible racket. I had to slide the fan almost off the end of the motor shaft to clear the rheostat. But after adjustment I can run on low without stalling the fans, and it's quiet enough not to be noticable. Just a subtle hum. The hum gets quieter if I press my fan against the fan housing, which tells me some strategic ballast (lead weight) might make it even quieter.

 

[Mark8]

New install two months ago, replaced an Enviro Kodiak 1700. Haven't really had a chance to test the BK out in cold temp until this last week. 10, 10, and 12 df the last three mornings with highs around 30 here in central WA. The insert is heating the house (1700 sq ft) very well with floor fans moving the air.

I want to run the stove fan as low as possible to get the longest, hottest burns. Is the fan really moving any air at the lowest settings? Or do you think the fan needs to be at least 1/4 speed to not lose the heat up the chimney?

Did you do the install yourself or hire someone.
Exterior chimney or interior.
How tall is your liner.
Is your liner insulated.
Do you have a block off plate and insulation.

 

[ohiojoe13]

My stove shop guy just left. Installed a bed gasket. I really hope this fixes the smoke smell. I can't wait to try it out.

 

[ohiojoe13]

This is probably high density with a separate inner core and outer braid - make sure he offsets the the joint of the inner core from the outer braid and doesn't just butt the two together...
View attachment 223372

AND make that joint as smooth as possible...
View attachment 223373

Just got home to check it out. It's not as smooth looking as yours in the picture. I hope it works out

 

[SuperJ]

Shouldn’t your door be latched shut till the rtv cures? With paper between the gasket and stove?